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Alabama Asbestos Sites

Alabama Asbestos Sites
Alabama Asbestos Sites

Alabama Asbestos Sites

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While Alabama cannot claim a history in asbestos mining, the state does have a remarkable number of employment sites past and present where asbestos exposure has been a concern. The state has had two major shipyards in the Alabama Drydock & Shipping Co. and Bender Shipbuilding: shipyards have been hotspots for asbestos exposure because of extensive use of the material for insulation and for heat control in the engine room and in pipe systems.

Since asbestos was identified as a major carcinogen in the 1980s its use has been severely curtailed. However it takes years, even decades for asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma lung cancer to develop. That is why tens of thousands of people who were exposed to asbestos many years ago are filing compensation claims today.
Alabama Company Facilities Using Asbestos

Alabama has also been a major producer of steel, another employment site that is ripe for asbestos exposure. There are six major steel and iron manufacturing facilities in the state as well as four oil refineries. Facilities of this type generate and use a lot of heat. Any place that uses heat in a manufacturing or operating capacity and has been built between 1920 and 1990 probably has abundant asbestos somewhere in its structure. Here is a partial list of sites that have been recognized for their potential for hazardous exposure to asbestos:

The federal government started keeping statistics on asbestos-related deaths in 1979 and published a report in the year 2000. Over that time span, 507 people died from asbestosis, and somewhere between 248 and 410 people died from mesothelioma. The spread of figures for mesothelioma assumes that some deaths during that period were due to mesothelioma but went unreported. From 1999 – 2004, there were 192 reported deaths from mesothelioma, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Nationwide, it is assumed that about 3,000 Americans die annually due to mesothelioma.
Alabama Mesothelioma Cancer Treatment

The National Cancer Institute maintains a list of forty one prominent cancer treatment and research centers across the U.S. One of them is in Alabama: